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Enhancing Partner Support: MicroWarehouse and Sherweb Lead the Way in Microsoft’s New Era
Over the coming months, Microsoft will be introducing significant updates to its support programme, the most substantial change since the launch of the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) model. During the Microsoft Ignite event in November, Dan Rippey, Microsoft’s Product Lead for Support, announced that the Advanced Support for Partners and Premier Support for Partners programmes is evolving.
Simultaneously, it was revealed that Unified “Support” for Partners will launch in 2026, progressively replacing Premier Support for Partners, while bringing several important changes to the way support is delivered. MicroWarehouse and Sherweb are already closely involved in this transition with Microsoft and are well-positioned to lead the way in delivering enhanced support.
Since CSP launched, under the program rules, resellers have been required to provide first-level technical support. If needed, they escalate issues to distributors, then Microsoft. Rapid cloud growth has put pressure on this process, so Microsoft is making changes to improve the overall service quality.
First, ISSI (Information Security Systems International) are independently vetting and auditing the distribution channel and distributors. Those with verified premium support processes, agents, and proven high service levels will receive the Microsoft Solution Designation for Support Services. Sherweb is among the first global distributors with this designation, and we’re pleased to offer this service to the MicroWarehouse partner base.
Starting this Christmas and into the new year, we will begin to leverage the scale and deep expertise of the Sherweb support team to route support tickets through them. This process applies to support tickets; our local team will still work with you on all customer service tickets, licensing queries, deal support, portal queries etc. We will also have full visibility over all tickets raised, for both support and customer service.
Secondly, as Microsoft continue to evolve the program, they will start to introduce charges for certain ticket escalations. The exact circumstances under which charges will apply and the value of those charges are currently under review with Microsoft. We have sought clarification on a number of issues, and we will keep you informed as we get further confirmation on the full end-to-end process. Please rest assured that you will not be charged for any ticket raised with Sherweb via our Solution Designation support team and no ticket will be raised to Microsoft that incurs a cost without first seeking prior approval from you, the partner.
Thirdly, we continue to provide Microsoft certified and MVP led “real world” training to all of our partners through our Learn Program. Helping our partners to become more self-sufficient and raising the bar for technical standards across our base, only helps to better serve clients. Providing solution architecture and deployments from highly experienced and qualified engineers will in turn reduce the volume of support escalation. The aim is to provide enhanced first level support and a better experience across the channel.
MicroWarehouse have been proudly providing technical enablement training to our partner base for over 10 years, and we will be enhancing this further with the launch of “The Sherweb Learning Hub” in early 2026 in addition to our standard training. This will be another great training resource available to our partner base to successfully navigate these changes.
Finally, our tested and proven approach to training can also provide commercial benefits to you, the partner. In upskilling, we can help you understand how to attain Solution Designations and specialisations. In addition to expanded Internal Use Rights, Solution Designated Partners receive 50 hours of technical presales and deployment services, as well as 50 Partner Cloud Support incidents and 20 on-premise Support Incidents. These programs from Microsoft also unlock an array of funds partners can make use of .
Please do note, these changes are for Technical Support tickets only. MicroWarehouse will continue to manage all non-technical support such as Licensing, Billing, Cost Optimisation, Provisioning and Renewals Management locally through our award-winning Ireland Distributor of the Year team.
We will keep you updated on any further changes and clarifications received from Microsoft as and when they become available.
Currently [email protected] or a phone call to our support desk at +353 1 6160400 are the fastest and most direct ways to raise a ticket, however we will soon optimise this to route you through to the best resources available.
Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
